Helicopter Ride from Kaikoura
November 24th, 2003 | Back to Blog Listing

The helicopter sitting on the pad waiting to go
Today started off a little rough as the whale watching tours were cancelled due to bad weather. This is the second time Tisa and I have tried unsuccessfully to go whale watching in Kaikoura only to have the weather turn sour on us. Determined to do it anyways, Sean and I took a helicopter(first time for both of us) and went whale watching. We were told that there would only be a 50% chance of actually seeing whales given the conditions so Tisa decided not to go with us. While we did infact see a Sperm Whale even with the bad weather, the fun part of the trip for both Sean and I was the helicopter ride. If you have never ridden in one, I would strongly suggest trying it. Perhaps in my efforts to conquer the world I will learn to fly a helicopter someday - I'll certainly take more rides in them.

After our Kaikoura experience, we headed up to Picton and caught the InterIslander Ferry across. The weather was still pretty bad and it was an enjoyably rough Cook Straight Experience. Our friend, Leah, picked us up at the Ferry Depot and she and her family have been kind enough to put us up in the home for the evening.